Trial for ex-cop, teacher’s lottery dispute set for May

The Civil Court will start a trial in May to determine the legitimate owner of lottery tickets that claimed a Bt30-million jackpot in a high-profile dispute between a retired policeman and a teacher.

Both sides plan to produce more than 10 witnesses and evidence to back their respective claims of ownership.

At the centre of the case are five lottery tickets that won Bt30 million in the November 1 draw last year.

Pol Lieutenant Charoon Wimul, a retired policeman from Kanchanaburi, produced the tickets to claim the prize, but on November 2 Kanchanaburi-based teacher Preecha Kraikuan lodged a complaint with police claiming that he had bought the tickets but then lost them.

He said he suspected Charoon might have found the lottery tickets after he had lost them.

Preecha has also asked the Civil Court to issue an injunction to prevent Charoon from spending the prize money.

During the past few months, the case has attracted a lot of public attention and media coverage.

Charoon maintains that he bought the tickets himself, although Preecha has presented a lottery vendor as his witness, who says he bought the tickets from her.

However, a widely-circulated audio clip suggests the lottery vendor might have been lying.

In court on Monday, Charoon said he would be willing to drop his complaints against Preecha if he admitted his guilt.

However, Preecha continued to insist that he was telling the truth and would fight the case in court.